Bottle-washing machine.



W. T. HAWKINS.

BUTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

(Applicatinn med nu. 1o, 1699.) N0 MUdSL) 4 Sheets-Sheet No. 636,985. Patented Nov. 14, |899.

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Patented Nov. I4, |899,

w. T. HAwKms, BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

(Application :Bled Mar. 10, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

| lill Patented Nov. I4, |899.

W. T. HAWKINS.

lBTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

(Application led Mar. 10, 1899.)

(No Model.)

'4 Sheets-Sheet 3,

No. 636,985. K Patented Nov. |4,|a99.

w. T. lmwums. BOTTLE WASHING'IIACHINE.

(Application filed Har. 10, 1899.) Y

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

zessw. v wat CLM 63% A rotatable bottle-supports.

vertical sectional view of part of the bottlel UNITED 4STATES 'l'l3Afr1-3NT FFICE.

WILLIAM T. IIAVVKINS, OF FISHKILII, NEV YORK.

BOTTLE-WASHING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,985, dated. November 14, 1899.

Application filed March 10, 1899. Serial No. 708,524. (No model.) h

T all whom it' may concern: Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. I-IAwKINs,

ya citizen of the United States,residing at Fish- Machines, of which the following is a speciiication.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine for quickly and thoroughly washing the inner and outer surfaces of bottles.

My improved machine comprises a tub or receptacle containing the washing water, a vertically-movable frame supported in the washing-receptacle and carrying a series of rotatable bottle-supports, means :for lowering the frame into and raising it out of the washing-receptacle, a series of vertically-reciprocating brushes adapted to be moved down into and between the bottles, and suitable means for rotating the bottle-supports and reciprocating the washing-brushes. l

In order that `my invention may be fully understood, I will first describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings and afterward point out the novelty with more particularity in the annexed claims.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my improved bottle-washin g machine, showing the bottle-carrying frame and reciprocating brushes in elevated inoperative positiomparts being omitted for clearness. Fig. 1' is a detail view of guides in the liquid-receptacle. Fig.l 2 is a sectional elevation of the machine, taken at right angles to Fig. 1 and showing the bottle supporting frame and brushes lowered into operative position with a series of bottles mounted in the supporting-frame, parts being omitted for clearness. Fig. 3 is a detail plan view illustrating the gearing for driving the series of Fig. 4 is a detail supporting frame, showing the means for securing the bottles therein. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional plan View, parts being removed, showing the arrangement of the brushes and their driving mechanism. Fig. G is an enlarged detail sectional View showinga bottle secured in position in its rotatable support.

The machine-frame comprises the uprights or standards 1 2, mounted upon a suitable base and braced by the top cross-bar 3 and the bottom cross-bars 4.

5 is a tub or receptacle adapted to contain the water for washing the bottles. The receptacle 5 is supported upon base 6 between the uprights or standards 1 2.

Within the tub or receptacle 5 are the vertical guideways 7, with which engage the diametrically opposite lugs 8 of the base 9 of the bottle-carrying frame. The base 9 is journaled upon the lower end of a vertically-movable rotatable shaft 10 and coniined thereon by means of a Washer 11 and nut 12, secured upon the lower end of shaft 10, so as to allow the shaft 10 to rotate freely in the base 9 and cause the'base 9 to move vertically with the shaft when the shaft is raised or lowered, as hereinafter explained. The shaft 10 passes through the upper brace 3 of the main frame and is journaled therein in the bearing 13, and the upper end of the shaft passes freely through a guide arm or bracket 15 and is supported thereon by balls 16, which rest ina ball-race 15a, cut in the guide-arm.

17 is a bearing-collar resting upon the balls 16 and coniined upon the end of shaft 10 by a nut 18, threaded upon the reduced upper end of the shaft. The ball-bearing supports the shaft vertically and allows-it free rotation in the guide arm or bracket 15. The guide arm or bracket 15 engages a vertical guide 20, formed on the inner face of a bracket 21, which is mounted upon and eX- tends vertically from the top brace-bar 3. Journaled in the bracket 2l is a sheave or pulley 22, and journaled in the end of bracebar 3 is a similar sheave or pulley 23. A chain or cable is secured at one end 25 to the bracket-arm 15, adjacent to the upper end of shaft 10, and passes over the sheaves orpulleys 22 23, and has secured at its opposite end 25b a counterweight 26. The weight 26is for the purpose of balancing the weight of shaft 10 and parts supported thereby, asl

facilitate the in its bearhereinafter explained, so as to movement of the shaft vertically ings.

30 is the main driving-shaft, journaled in bracket-bearings 31, mounted upon the brace 3 of the frame. l

32 and 33 are fast and loose pulleys upon driving-shaft 30.

The shaft 30 extends in- IOO `tion, allows the base portion wardly toward the vertically-movable rotatable shaft 10 and has keyed to its inner end a bevel-gear 34, which meshes with a large bevel-gear 35, journaled on the brace-bar 3 and splined to the shaft 10, which is vertically movable through it.

10ais the spline-groove in the shaft10,with which an internal feather on gages.

40 is a vertically-movable horizontal bar, engaging at its ends in vertical slots or guideways 40, formed in the u pri ghts or standards l 2, said bar supporting a circular plate 41, upon which the brushes and their operating mechanism are mounted, as hereinafter explained. The bar 40 projects beyond thc side frames 1 2, and secured to its ends are the vertical rack-bars 42 43, meshing with the pinions 44 and 45, which are journaled in the standards 1 2. Keyed to the journals of the pinions 44 and 45 are sprocket-wheels 46, over which run the sprocket-chains 47 48. Journaled in the side frames l 2, beneath the receptacle 5, and extending from side to side of the machine is a shaft 50, provided at its ends with sprocket-wheels 49, over which the chains 47 and 48 run. At one side of themachine the shaft or axle of the pinion 45 is provided with a hand-crank 45n for operating it, the rotation of the crank being transmitted through sprocket-wheels, chains, and transverse shaft 50 to the pinion 44at the opposite side of the machine. By this means the pinions 44 and 45 are rotated simultaneously for moving upward or downward the rack-bars 42 and 43, connected bar 40, and mechanism supported thereby.

The bottle-supporting base 9,1nounted upon the shaft l0 and guided in the receptacle 5, as above described, carries six (more or less) series of rotatable bottle-supports, each series consisting of three supports constructed and arranged as now described. Each of the rotatable bottle-supports consists of a gear 60, formed with a tubular bearing-hub G1, a cupshaped base portion 62, formed with a stem 63, which extends into the tubular bearinghub 61 of the gear 60 and has a squared lower end 63a, which passes through a similarlyshaped opening in the end of the tubular hub 6l. A spiral spring G4 surounds a contracted portion of the stem G3 within the tubular hub Gl and is confined between a shoulder 65 of the stem and an internal shoulder 6l of the hub. The rotation of the gear 60 causes the base portion G2 and bottle supported thereon to rotate, and the spring G4, normally supporting the base portion G2 in raised posito be depressed slightly for the insertion of a bottle, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

is a large cog-gear secured to the vertical shaft 10 directly above the platform 9. The series of bottle-supports and their driving-gears 60 are arranged around the central shaft l0, each series being in form of an equilateral triangle, and the innermost gears of each series mesh with the central the gear 35 en.

drivinggear 70. The outer gears of the series mesh with the inner gears and are driven thereby, so that all of the bottle-supports are rotated from the central driving-gear 70. This arrangement of the gears is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

In conjunction with the rotatable bottle supports just described it is necessary to employ suitable means for engaging the bottles at the top. For this purpose I provide a plate 75, having a central hub 76, whiehis freely journaled upon a sleeve or collar 77, surrounding shaft 10 and supported vertically on said collar by a ring 78, secured to the collar by pin 79. Mounted in the plate 75, which extends horizontally above the bottlesupporting base 9, are a series of antifriction bottle-engaging collars, one of which will now be described. Each of the antifriction bottle-engaging collars comprises a ring 80 with an opening through it approximately the same size as the opening in the neck of the bottle and is formed with a lower beveled face 80a, with which the neck of the bottle engages. The plate is formed with a thickened portion 75, which is cut out to form a ball-race in which are located the antifriction-balls 81, said balls being confined between a ange or collar of the thickened portion 75a and a shoulder of the bottle-engaging ring 80. The ring is held in place by means of washers 82, engaging a groove in the ring 80 and secured to the plate 75 by means of set-screws 83, threaded in the plate. An antifriction bottle-'engaging ring 8O is arranged above each of the rotatable bottlesupports. To securely fasten the bottles in place between the antifriction-rings 8O and supporting-cups G2, it is desirable to provide in addition to the vertical movement of the supporting-cups 62 some means for moving the plate 75 toward and away from the bottle-supporting cups. I accomplish this by providing rods or pins 85, which are screwed into the plate 75 andV pass through guideopenings 86 in a bar 87, secured to posts 88, projecting up from the base 9,0f the bottlesupporting frame.

90 is a skeleton plate or spider secured to the sleeve 77 by a screw 91, so as to cause the sleeve 77 to rotate by rotating the skeleton pla te 90. The sleeve 77 has a screw-threaded lower portion, which is threaded into a central opening 92 in the bar 87. By rotating the spider 90 the threaded sleeve 77 may be screwed upwardly or downwardly in the bar 87, and as the plate 75, carrying the antifriction bottle-engaging collars 80, is rotatably mounted upon the sleeve 77 and conined against movement longitudinally thereon it will be observed that said plate 75 will be moved upwardly or downwardly with ysleeve 77. The skeleton plate 90 is formed with a circular series of holes 93, into one of which a spring-pin 94 is adapted to engage for holding the plate 90 and attached adjusting-screw IOO IOS

IIO

`7 7 in the desired adj usted position.

porting-frame. ,brackets 101 and extending radially with re- -lation to the shaft 10 is a short shaft 105, provided at its inner end with a bevel-gear 106,

94 is supported in tubular' bearing 95 and is surrounded by spiral spring 96, which holds -it normally into engagement with one of the holes 93 of skeleton plate 90.

97 is a head or enlargement upon pin 94, by which it can be withdrawn against the action of its spring.

In the machine shown in the drawings the bottle-supporting frame is adapted to hold eighteen bottles. To thoroughly wash the bottles supported in the frame, I provide a series of sets of reciprocating brushes, each .set comprisingfour approximately cylindrical brushes arranged to be lowered into the bottles and in the spaces between each set of three bottles in order that the bottles will be scrubbed inside and outside. I Will now describe the reciprocating brushes and operating mechanism. A

The horizontal bar 40 carries a circular platiform 41, upon which is mounted a series of brackets 101. Jou rnaled in the brackets 101 -and the plate or platform 41 are a series of vertically-reciprocating rods 102, supporting brushes 104. The brushes 104 are supported rin proper position to be forced down through thecollars into the bottles and through -other openings in plate 75 into the spaces between t-he series of bottles carried by the sup- Journaled in each of the which meshes with a large horizontal bevelgear 107, having spline connection with shaft 10. The short shaft 105 carries at its outer end a crank 108, to which is journaled the lower end of the pitman 109, connected at its upper end to a collar 110. The collar is adj ustably secured to the rod 102. By the rotation of gear 107 the rod 102, carrying brushes 104, is reciprocated vertically.

In the machine shown in the drawings six sets of brushes and operating mechanisms are employed, each set being exactly as above described and all being driven by the central bevel-gear 107. t

Attached to the ends of the bar 40 are the -chains or cables 115, which pass over sheaves vor pulleys 116, journaled to the side frames 1 2. Secured to the other ends of the chains or cables are counterweights 117.

is a collar adjustably secured to shaft 10 by the set-screw 121. The collar 120 is located above the gear 107, the gear being coninedadjacent to the platform 4l by the engagement of gears 106. As will be explained more fully hereinafter, the purpose of the collar 120 is to raise the shaft 10, with the con- `nected bottle-supporting frame, by the en- The pin` 'chine being in the position shown in Fig. 1,

with the parts elevated, the bottles are placed in the supporting-frame by forcing the bottom of the bottle into the cup 62 and placing the necks of the bottles in engagement with the antifriction-rings 80. The plate 75 is then forced downwardly by the means described to securely fasten the bottles in place.

By the rotation of the crank 45a the bar,40, carrying the brushes and operating mechanism, is lowered, the bottle-supporting frame moving downwardly with the brushes by reason of the weight of the bottles and the engagement of the brushes with lthe plate 75 until it rests in the bottom of receptacle 5, when the shaft 10 cannot move farther downwardly. The bar 40 continues to move downwardly after the bottle-supporting frame is in its lowermost position until the brushes 104 are forced through the rings 80 and other openings in plate 5 into and between the bottles supported in the frame. As soon as the brushes have reached their lowermost position the driving-belt which operates upo-n the fast and loose pulleys 32 and 33 is shifted fromv the loose to the fast pulley to operate the washing mechanism. The brushes will be rapidly reciprocated vertically by the mechanism explained, and the series of bottle-supports 61 are at the same time rotated, so that Y the rotating bottles Will be thoroughly scrubbed on the inside and outside by the vertically-reciprocating brushes. Whenl the bottles have been thoroughly washed, the

crank-handle 45a is operated in reverse di,

recton for lifting the brushes out of contact with the bot-tles and for lifting the bottlesupporting frame out of the tank 5. The Iirst part of the upward movement moves the brushes only to withdraw them from the bottles; but as soon as the gear 107 reaches the collar 120 on shaft 10 the shaft 10 and supported bottle holding frame will also be ymoved vertically. The washed bottles are then removed from the supporting-frame by a reversal of the operation of putting them in place, as above described. A second set of bottles to be washed can then be put in place and the washing operation repeated.

By myimproved structure I can thoroughly and quickly Wash a large number of bottles. The machine can be constructed to wash any desired number of bottles at a single operation, and the details of construction can be modified Without departing from the spirit of my invention, which is defined in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a bottle-washing machine, the combination of a rotatable bottle-support, means for securing a bottle thereon, a reciprocating brush adaptedto be inserted in the bottle on the support, a reciprocating brush vadapted to be placed in contact With the outer surface Yof the bottle, and means for simultaneously IOO IIO

IIS

rotating the bottle-support and reciprocating the brushes in contact with the inner and outer surfaces of the bottle, as set forth.

2. In a bottle-washing machine, the combination of a series of rotatable bottle-supports, a series of reciprocating rods mounted above said supports, a plurality of bottlewashing brushes mounted upon each of said rods, and means for simultaneously rotatingr the bottle-supports and reciprocating said rods supporting the brushes, as set forth.

3. In a bottle-washing machine, the combination of a suitable receptacle adapted to contain the wash-water, a rotatable bottlesupport adapted to be lowered into and elevated from the receptacle, a reciprocating brush adapted to be lowered into contact with the bottle carried on the support and elevated out of contact therewith, means for simultaneously rotating the bottle-support and reciprocating the brush, and means for raising and lowering the bottle-support and brush, substantially as set forth.l

4. In a bottle-washing machine, the combination of a wash-water receptacle, a bottlesupporting frame, a vertically-movable rotatable shaft upon which said frame is mounted, a rotatable bottle support upon said frame, gearing between the shaft and said rotatable bottle support, a vertically movable brush-supporting frame, a reciprocating brush mounted upon said brush-supporting frame, means operated by said shaft for reciprocating the brush, means of engagement between the brush-supporting frame and shaft, and means for elevating the brushsupporting frame, whereby the shaft and bottlc-supporting frame can be elevated and lowered by the movements of the brush-supporting frame, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination in a bottle-washing machine, with suitable washing-brushes and their operating mechanism, of a yieldinglysu pported rotatable bottle-support, means for rotating said support, and means for engaging the neck of abottle to retain the bottle upon the said support, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination in a bottle-washing machine, with suitable washing-brushes and their operating mechanism, of a rotatable bottle-support comprising a bottle-engaging cup provided with a central standard or stem, a gear having a tubular hub into which the standard or stem of the cup extends, a spring surrounding the standard or stem and confined between collars on the standard or stem and tubular hub, means for rotating said gear, and means for engaging the neck of a bottle for retaining it in the bottle-supporting cup, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination ina bottle-washing machine, with suitable washingbrushes and their operating mechanism, of a rotatable bottle-support comprising a gear provided with a tubular bearing-hub, a bottle-supporting cup having a central standard or stem extending into the tubular bearing-hub of the gear, squared engaging faces upon the hub and stem or standard, a spiral spring surrounding the stem or standard and confined between shoulders on the stem and tubular hub, means for engaging the neck of a bottle for retaining the bottle in the supporting-cup, and a drivinggear meshing with the gear of the rotatable bottle-support, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination in a bottle-washing machine, with suitable washing-brushes and their operating mechanism, of a rotatable bottle-support, a frame mounted above said support and carrying a bottle-engaging ring, and means for moving said frame and the bottle-engaging ring toward and away from the bottle-support, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination in a bottle-washing machine, with suitable washing brushes and their operating mechanism, of a series of rotatable bottle-supports, a bottle-retaining plate mounted above said supports and movable toward and away from them, bottle-engaging rings carried in said plate, a threaded sleeve engaging said plate and threaded into a suitable stationary bearing, means for operatng said threaded sleeve for moving the bottle-retaining plate toward or away from the bottle-supports, and means for locking the sleeve in any desired adjusted position, substantiall y as set forth.

10. The combination in a bottle-washing machine, with suitable washing-brushes and their operating mechanism, a series of rotatable bottle-supports, means for drivingsaid supports, a bottle-retaining plate mounted above the rotatable supports and held against rotation, a bar rigidly secured to the bottlesupporting frame and having a threaded opening, a threaded sleeve operating in said threaded opening and passing freely through the bottle-retaining plate, a skeleton frame or spider rigidly secured to said sleeve and by means of which the sleeve can be operated, and a spring-bolt carried by the bottleretaining plate and adapted to engage said skeleton frame or spider, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

1l. The combination in a bottle-washing machine, with a series of rotatable bottle-supports, of a brush-supporting frame, reciprocating rods journaled in said frame, a plurality of brushes mounted upon said rods, a main driving-shaft, a series-of radial shafts geared to said driving-shaft and suitable connections between said radial shafts and the reciprocating rods, substantially as set forth.

12. The combination in a bottle-washing machine, with a series of rotatable bottle-supports, of a brush-supporting frame, rack-bars attached to said frame, gears engaging said rack-bars, means for simultaneously operating said gears, and a plurality of washingbrushes mounted upon said frame, substantially as set forth. v

13. The combination in a bottle-washing IOO IIO

machine, of a series of rotatable bottle-supsaid rods and geared to said shaft,'and means Io Aof engagement between said Shaft and the brush-supporting frame, substantially as set forth.

WILLIAM T. HAVKINS.

Vitnesses:

WILLIAM E. DEAN, TIIEoDoRE WILLIAMS. 

